Stacking collar for warehousing and transporting sheet material

ABSTRACT

A stacking collar for receiving, holding, and transporting sheet material such as e.g., glass. In addition to being stackable the collars are collapsed or taken apart forming flat arrangements for stacking one on top of another with the parts locked in place for shipping back to the supplier, using a minimum amount of space. In one form of the invention the stacking collars are adjustable for different sizes of sheets.

[ Dec. 23, 1975 United States Patent 91 Fox [ STACKING COLLAR FORWAREHOUSING 3,307 691 3/1967 Vallebona...........................206/45! AND TRANSPQRTING SHEET MATERIAL 3,645,389 2/1972 Castiaux206/454 l/l973 [76] Inventor:

Andrews et Pompeo Murray J. Fox, Rte. 1 Road, Wilsonville, Conn. 06255July 30, 1974 Appl. No.: 493,175

Primary Examiner-Donald F. Norton [22] Filed:

Assistant Examiner-Steven E. Lipman or Firm -Charles R. Fay

Attorney, Agent 521 US. Cl. 206/451; 206/386; 206/454; ABSTRACT Astacking collar for receiving, holding, and transporting sheet materialsuch as e.g.,

glass. In addition to being stackable the collars are collapsed or takenapart forming flat arrangements for stacking one on top of anotherMiththe parts locked in place for shipping back to the supplier, using aminimum amount of space. In one form of the invention the stacking col-RZ MZ NR 50 7 9 0 8 4 l2 1 l 444 6 2 %B9H; 6 5 52 6% 3 0 M D MM a 142 Bu M T m m4 M6 m mm a C d L d .m h H N 5 5 l.

lars are adjustable for different sizes of sheets.

2 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures l,940,l86 R0mine...........................105/471 US. Patent Dec. 23, 1975 Sheet 1 of3 3,927,764

t im

US. Patent Dec. 23, 1975 Sheet2of3 3,927,764

U.S. Patant Dec. 23, 1975 Sheet 3 of3 3,927,764

Illlii ll l |ll| d S'IACKING COLLAR FOR WAREHOUSING AND TRANSPORTINGSHEET MATERIAL BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION There have been manysuggestions for shipping and storing containers for sheet material suchas glass panels but there still exists a problem of minimum collapsedarrangements for the collars for returning them to the supplier in orderto facilitate the return operation with a minimum amount of space in theconveyance. Many devices for shipping sheets are cumbersome anddifficult to handle.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A base unit is provided for receiving thesheets on edge, the base unitincluding sockets for the reception ofdetachable uprights which appear at each side of the stack of sheets.

' Once the sheets of material are in position between the uprights andmounted as stated on the base they are then strapped in position bystrapping which goes all around the sheets of material, the uprights,and the base. Theuprights are also provided with sockets for thereception of'another base, uprights, etc., thereon for stacking in thewarehouse. The base being substantially flat except for the sockets,etc., receive thereon theuprights which are removed from the emptycollars, another base being placed thereon etc. The parts are utilizedfor stacking the units in place and in this way a minimum of spaceandalso of labor is needed for returning the empty collars to the supplierwhere they may then be .again erected for further shipment orwarehousing.

In one form of the invention the bases may be made of tubulartelescoping material so as to be adjustable in respect to both lengthand width so that sheets of different sizes i.e., lengths and widths maybe accommodated thereby. The uprights also may be telescopicallyarranged so as ro adjust for the widths of the sheets which are stackedon edge on the adjustable base. In this way any reasonable number ofsheets of any length and width can be accommodated in the way abovedescribed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective viewillustrating one of the collapsible collars loaded with a series ofsheets;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of an individual base;

FIG. 3 is an edge view thereof;

FIG. 4 is a side view of one of the collars i.e., as shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is an end view thereof;

FIG. 6 is a plan view of an adjustable base; and

FIG. 7 is a view illustrating an adjustable standard.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION Referring first to FIG. 2, thereis here shown an open rectangular frame comprising a pair of spacedelongated structural members 10 and 12. These may be generally of anyform but channel irons provide a degree of rigidity which is desirable.At the ends of elongated members 10 and 12 there are similar end membersas at 14 and 16 welded thereto and an intermediate brace 18 as requiredfor strength purposes.

At the corner of the frame there are provided upright sockets 20preferably square or rectangular and the members forming these socketsare provided with depending foot members as at 22, 22. The latter aretransversely formed by upwardly open channels 24 at the under sidesthereof. I

There is provided a convenient floor indicated at 30 which may be ofwood and which is mounted on the frame 10, 12, 14, 16 above described.This frame provides the floor for the upright sheets of material whichare indicated in general at 32, 32 being shown in phantom in FIG. 1 inorder to better explain the invention. Floor 30 may be provided withside pieces 34, 34 and end pieces 36, 36 which can be nailed in placeand serve to locate the sheets of material 32. The floor is bolted tothe frame l0, l2, and this forms a unit.

Columnar uprights 38 are mounted .in sockets 20. These may be ofrectangular or square tubular material with pressure pads 40 or the likeif desired to engage the sides of the sheet material 32. The uprights 38are held upright by the sockets andthemselves are provided with socketsas at 42, 42 at their upper ends. They may be connected across the topof the assembled sheets 32 by means of braces or the like 44 overlappingthe ends of the uprights 38as clearly shown in FIG. 1 and beingconnected together in one piece forming integral fixed members engagingand holding the top edges of the sheet material parts 32. j

The uprights 38 preferably are provided with apertures 46 for receivingthe strapping 50 passing along the top of each member 44 or in alongitudinal depression 52 therein holding the strapping laterally, thestrapping passing through the apertures 46 around the outside aspects ofthe uprights 38 and into the channel members 24 which are open.

The strapping holds the entire arrangement together in a very safe andeasily handled collar. ltwill be seen that the sockets 42 being openended facing each other as at 54 the members 24 of another collar may beset in the sockets 42 and the assembled sheet material collar device asdescribed may be stacked as high as desired for warehousing or they canbe shipped that way, whereas at the same time there is room betweenplatform 30 and the floor upon which the members 24 are set to providefor fork lift for moving the same from a packaging station orwarehousing to a truck, etc.

When the sheet material and collar have reached their destination thestrapping is undone and the braces 44 are removed so as to remove thesheet material for use etc. The standards 38 are then removed fromsockets 20 and are laid down upon the platform 30 between the sidesupports 34 and can again easily be strapped in multiples for easy andminimum volume return to the factory or the supplier. The platform isconveniently notched out as for instance at 60 to accommodate sockets 20aiding and holding the same against motion in two directions and thecollars may be used many times since they are simple, easily handled,and very rugged.

Very little effort is required to erect and to collapse the collarswhich are the subject matter of the invention and the labor, etc., isthereby reduced in both assembling and disassembling the sheets ofmaterial where desired.

Referring now to FIGS. 6 and 7, it is shown how the base may be madeadjustable in length and width-and the uprights in length so as toaccommodate different sizes of sheet material and different thicknessesand amounts of sheets thereof.

In FIG. 6 for instance, a tubular member and a corresponding telescopingmember 72 may be used to form the longitudinal side members of the baseframe and any'convenient means may be utilized to lock them togethersuch as locking pins 74 which are thrust through a convenient line ofopenings in the two mem bers.

Likewise the end members may be made of tubular members 76 andtelescoping member 78 in the same manner so that the base frame as shownin FIG. 6 is now seen to be adjustable in length and width. In thisrespect another brace member 80 is welded to the cross braces 82 and oneof the end members 76. In this way the frame can be easily adjustedlengthwise as well as with respect to the width thereof.

' A similar construction can be utilized for the uprights, FIG. 7, whichcan also be made of a telescopic member 84 and a tubular member 86receiving the same and otherwise the construction would be more or lessas described above.

With reference to FIG. 7 it will be noted that there are a pair ofstraps or the like 88 which are applied to the uprights in such a way asto provide for the reception of straps 90 which can be turned uponthemselves and clipped or crimped as at 92 so that therefore it will beseen that the strapping does not extend under the bottom deck of thecollar as is indicated in dotted lines, see 50 in FIG. 5. However thestrapping 90 does however, see FIG. 7, extend over the top of the collarand down the other side to a similar situation where the strapping isagain reversed and crimped or clipped.

I claim:

1. A collapsible collar of the class described comprising a generallyflat base, means forming pairs of sockets at certain edges thereof, astack of sheet material positioned on said base, a pair of separablestandards inserted into each said pair of sockets means at the tops 4 ofsaid standards securing the same together including strapping extendingcompletely around said stack of sheet material on the base, under thebase, and down along the standards at opposite sides of the base,

braces extending between each pair of standards,

means in the braces receiving said strapping, channel members under thebase, each channel being connected at its ends to one of said pair ofstandards, and sockets at the tops of the standards adapted to receivethe channels of a similar collar stacked thereabove.

2. A collapsible collar of the class described comprising a generallyflat base, means forming pairs of sockets at certain edges thereof, astack of sheet materials positioned in said base, a pair of separablestandards inserted into each said pair of sockets at right angles withrespect to the base, means at the tops of said standards securing thesame together including strapping extending completely around said stackof sheet material on the base, under the base, down along the standardsat opposite sides of the base, said base and through apertures at theupper ends of each said pair of standards, comprising tubular membersand corresponding telescoping members for adjusting the size of thebase, said telescoping members extending laterally and longitudinally ofthe base, said standards including tubular telescoping members, a crossmember connecting the lower ends of each said pair of standards andhaving a channel therethrough receiving said strapping, and a pair ofopen-facing sockets on the upper ends of each pair of standards adaptedto receive the cross member of a similar collar stacked thereabove.

1. A collapsible collar of the class described comprising a generallyflat base, means forming pairs of sockets at certain edges thereof, astack of sheet material positioned on said base, a pair of separablestandards inserted into each said pair of sockets means at the tops ofsaid standards securing the same together including strapping extendingcompletely around said stack of sheet material on the base, under thebase, and down along the standards at opposite sides of the base, bracesextending between each pair of standards, means in the braces receivingsaid strapping, channel members under the base, each channel beingconnected at its ends to one of said pair of standards, and sockets atthe tops of the standards adapted to receive the channels of a similarcollar stacked thereabove.
 2. A collapsible collar of the classdescribed comprising a generally flat base, means forming pairs ofsockets at certain edges thereof, a stack of sheet materials positionedin said base, a pair of separable standards inserted into each said pairof sockets at right angles with respect to the base, means at the topsof said standards securing the same together including strappingextending completely around said stack of sheet material on the base,under the base, down along the standards at opposite sides of the base,said base and through apertures at the upper ends of each said pair ofstandards, comprising tubular members and corresponding telescopingmembers for adjusting the size of the base, said telescoping membersextending laterally and longitudinally of the base, said standardsincluding tubular telescoping members, a cross member connecting thelower ends of each said pair of standards and having a channeltherethrough receiving said strapping, and a pair of open-facing socketson the upper ends of each pair of standards adapted to receive the crossmember of a similar collar stacked thereabove.